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H1B Spouses May Be Allowed to Work in the US

DHS has proposed allowing spouses of H1B visa holders in H4 status to work while waiting for their legal permanent residence to be approved.

The idea is to enhance opportunities for certain groups of highly-skilled workers by removing obstacles to their remaining time in the US, strengthen entrepreneurship and innovation, and to help the US attract and retain highly-skilled immigrants.

The H1B visa holder must have an approved I-140 form and should have an extension of their H1B status beyond 6 years.

Specifically, the change to the regulation would:

Update the regulations to include non-immigrant highly-skilled specialty occupation professionals from Chile and Singapore (H-1B1), and from Australia (E-3), in the list of classes of aliens authorized for employment incident to status with a specific employer;

Clarify that H-1B1 and principal E-3 non-immigrants are allowed to work without having to separately apply to DHS for employment authorization; and

Allow E-3, H-1B1, and CW-1 non-immigrant workers up to 240 days of continued work authorization beyond the expiration date noted on their Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record, while the extension request is pending.

It would affect workers in specialty occupation nonimmigrant classifications for professionals from Chile and Singapore (H-1B1) and Australia (E-3), as well as Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Island (CNMI)-Only Transitional Workers (CW-1).

Finally, this proposal would also expand the current list of evidentiary criteria for employment-based first preference (EB-1) outstanding professors and researchers to allow the submission of evidence comparable to the other forms of evidence already listed in the regulations. This proposal would harmonize the regulations for EB-1 outstanding professors and researchers with other employment-based immigrant categories that already allow for submission of comparable evidence.The proposed rules will be published shortly and will invite comments for a 60 day period.See you in my next blog.Nalini S Mahadevan, JD, MBAImmigration Attorney St. Louis, Missouri
nsm@mlolaw.us

The information is not meant to create a client-attorney relationship. This blog is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for legal advice. Situations may differ based on the facts.